I walked nervously after my sister through the portal, tightly clutching the straps of my backpack. I peeked around Amber's back as I followed her through the crowd of newly arriving students.
After about a minute, when we were in a nearby hallway with slightly less people, Amber turned around to face me. "Why are you following me?" she demanded.
"I thought -"
"No." She cut me off and pointed back towards the entrance. "You have to wait over there with all the other freshmen."
I glared at her before reluctantly walking back to the group. I felt nervous. I didn't know anyone here - I'd gone to Wyren Middle School last year, and no one else there had transferred to Qindell High. I was on my own.
After a while, a short, overweight teacher wearing dark pants and a white t-shirt showed up holding a clipboard. He yelled, "Will everyone in Mr. Smyth's homeroom please follow me?"
He turned around and started back down the hallway he'd come. I pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from my back pocket, checked the name at the top, and followed the teacher. Several others detached from the group and followed.
He directed us into a classroom, then left us alone to go back to the rest of the freshmen at the entrance.
I took a seat towards the back of the classroom. There was a tall, slim teacher standing at the front of the room wearing a long green dress. I zoned out as she spent the next fifteen minutes recapping the same speech about the school that we'd all heard at the orientation.
I stood up (along with the rest of the class) and we headed down to the ninth grade locker bay. I checked at my info paper again, then looked around for my locker. I saw other students doing the same. Once I found it, it took me several tries to open the old, stiff locker. I hung my backpack on the interior hook, then slammed the door shut, but not before I removed a pencil pouch and a notebook.
"I'm not here to help you," the teacher stated, glaring at the group of us. "You should be able to find your classes on your own with the maps you got during Orientation. If you did not attend it, too bad." She walked away, leaving a mix of both confused and confident students.
I was one of the latter. I smoothed out my info sheet and slid it into the front of the notebook, between the cover and the first page. I stuck the notebook and pencil pouch under my arm, then leaned down to retrieve my map from my left boot.
I looked around at the space around me, then back at the map. I quickly took off in the direction of my first class of the day - algebra. By the time I reached the room, I was panting in an attempt to catch my breath. The class seemed to be located as far away from the locker bay as physically possible. Hopefully it was in a more convenient location in a few days.
At lunch, I avoided sitting next to anyone, and sat down at an empty table in the corner. The school lunch that day was pizza - my favorite. As I was eating, and looking through my notes, I noticed that two guys showed up to sit at the table.
They looked a bit human, which led me to assume that they were most likely wizards. They didn't speak, but every time they glanced at the other their eye color changed to a golden fire - which led me to believe that they were speaking telepathically.
I was jealous. I wished that I could do that.
Once lunch was over, it was time for what I hoped was going to be the most interesting class of the day - Dimensional Studies. So far my day had been a snooze fest with math and biology and history, but finally I had the opportunity to enjoy a class.
I was in awe the second I entered the room. While all the other classrooms I'd been in were simply just classrooms - this was a lecture hall. There were staggered rows of long tables in front of desks which led all the way up to the ceiling. The room was circular, the walls and the floor was all lined with stone. The area of wall across from the seats was a massive wall made up of thousands of tiny colored panels.
I looked around to see that everyone else had already found a place to sit, and quickly ran up three levels. I selected an empty seat next to the path which I had come up.
A tall, pale man with glowing read eyes and dark hair walked into the room. I instantly recognized him as Professor Fern - the infamous vampire which Amber often complained about. As his glare skimmed over the class, chattering silenced as they realized that class was starting. "As most of you know, my name is Professor Fern. You will not refer to me as 'mister' or 'teacher'. You will call me Professor Fern, or simply 'Professor'. You may only call me 'Fern' if I give you permission, is that understood?"
I nodded, and could hear scattered confirmative "yups" from all around me.
"Good." He stared at us briefly, then turned on a dime and reached out an arm to point at the colored blocks. "You will all get up immediately, and find the shelf labeled with your name. You will open it, and retrieve whatever you find in it. If you find something in the shelf, please remain standing. If not - take a seat."
I stood up, a delayed reaction as most others around me had stood up and were making their way to the wall. Once I reached it, I spent a good length of time scanning the bottom rows. I wished I was part nephilim, tengu, or even demon like some of the others. I stared up at some of my classmates who were flying across the top shelves, quickly scanning them for the right names. One of the guys I'd been sitting with at lunch actually had an astral.
I eventually found my name, a couple rows above my head. I took a few steps back, then jumped up. I gripped the wall with my hands, and shoved my feet into a pair of blocks - the flaps of which swung in under the pressure. Once I was balanced enough, I pushed on the lilac tile adorned with the name Hazel June. It swung up and inward, and I pulled out a paper airplane.
I jumped down, and all three tiles swung back down, displaying the names of their owners once again. I walked over to the area where the others who had found items in their slots had decided to go.
Once everyone was either standing where I was, or sitting back at their seat, Professor Fern spoke. "This assignment is your final grade. If you are sitting, you have failed. If you are standing, you have succeeded. If you are sitting, you may leave if you wish. If you stay, know that this class will bring down your grade severely. I recommend that if you care about knowledge, that you stay. Even though you do not master the class, you will still learn something."
A girl sitting higher up in the rows held up her hand.
"I will not be taking any questions. If you wish to know the answer on the thoughts you are confused about, you will remain as everything is going to be thoroughly explained in due time. Now, it is time for those with passing grades to present what they have found. Kyle, you start."
A goblin, presumably named Kyle took a step away from the group, and held up a dildo.
Everyone laughed when he held it up.
Oddly enough, Fern seemed happy about it. He held his hands up to silence the class, but he was gentler about it than he was when he first came in. "This is actually impressive. It is hard enough to time travel with just yourself and a single sheet of paper. Bringing back a larger object is difficult - especially for a beginner. Well done."
There was a round of cheers for Kyle, who ran back to his seat. Next, it was my turn. I took a step forward, and held it up.
The Professor nodded, and simply said "good job."
I looked down at the wing and said, "It looks like a math test." I looked back up, and frowned, "I got a 73."
There were a few laughs from my classmates, and with a flick of my wrist, I threw the plane towards my desk. It looped gracefully around the circumference of the room, and landed on the table I had been sitting at - sliding to a stop just next to my notebook. There was a quick round of applause, which was quickly silenced by Fern.
"It looks like you'll be paying attention in basic spells," was all he said before moving onto the next person. I ran back up to my seat, and watched as he went through the rest of the students.
Most people just found a piece of paper with a drawing or a note like "Its you from the future" of something stupid like that. One guy got a little vial filled with some kind of shimmery purple liquid, and one girl found a single square of dried up chocolate.
The rest of class seemed to pass by instantly. I left, only discovering what people left in their lockers for their past selves to find. I held the airplane by my side as I returned to my locker.
I retrieved my backpack from my locker, dumped my belongings into it, and slammed the locker door shut. I fished my phone out of a side pocket, and texted my sister as I made my way over to the exit portal.
Where are you?
I didn't get a response, and was standing there long after most other students had passed through the portal.
"Hey Hazel. Why you taking so long?" Amber called out, slowly making her way over to me.
I glared at her, but before I could say anything, she grabbed my arm and dragged me through the portal.
I opened my mouth, ready to yell at her, but she launched herself onto the couch, spinning around to face me, and started bombarding me with questions. "So do you Quindell so far? Did you make any friends? Do you like your teachers?"
I glared at her, simply said, "It was ok," then quickly changed the conversation by saying, "How was your day?"
She grinned, then launched into an overly detailed explanation about how she made out with some poor Fey at lunch - and after class.
Annoyed that I asked, and that this was the reason I had to wait so long to get home, I said yelled, "Forget about it."
She laughed a bit as I returned to my room. Once in in my room, I slipped off my backpack dropped it on the floor. I headed over to my desk, grabbed my laptop, and jumped onto my bed settling in to watch the new episode of Doctor Who.
"GOD FUCKING DAMNIT." I yelled as the credits rolled up across the screen. I felt like throwing something. The closest non-breakable thing was a pillow. I snatched it up, and threw it across the room. It hit a glass which I'd left on a shelf. The glass fell over and shattered on the floor.
The door to my room swung open, and my sister walked in, concerned. She was about to say something when she saw the logo flash across my computer screen. "Did you watch the new Doctor Who episode without me"
"Its a TBC." I cried falling backwards onto the bed out of my sitting position.
She glared at me, "You have to wait for me. We're-"
"I already waited for you at the portal for over an hour for you." I shot back obnoxiously.
"Girls, calm down and have some spaghetti." It was mom at the door.
At the word 'spaghetti' I slammed my laptop shut, and rolled out of the bed, shakily landing on my feet. I ran to the kitchen, but was unfortunately beat out by my sister.
We glared at each other as my mom dished out the spaghetti. We ate in silence.
Mom seemed to realize that neither of us was going to start talking, so she did. "So, how did you do on your final?" she asked me, aware that I had had Dimensional Studies today.
"I found a charmed paper airplane made out of an algebra test." I answered, smugly grinning over at Amber, who has infamously failed her Dimensional Studies final when she took the elective her freshmen year.
"No. Way." Amber stated slowly.
"Yes. Way." I mockingly echoed her tone.
"I'll bet you make a paradox," she accused.
"If I will, then Fern would know. He wouldn't say that I passed if I create a paradox, would he?" I reasoned.
"Maybe he didn't want to say it in front of the class?" she suggested loudly and desperately.
"He would definitely say that if I had," I shot back.
"I'll bet you cheat on it-"
"Silence!" my mom glared at the two of us. "Amber, I'm sure that Hazel won't create a paradox and won't cheat. You don't need to be accusing her of anything. Just be quiet."
I was annoyed that I'd been silenced by the spell, but once mom casts a quiet command, you won't be saying anything for a while. She wasn't particularly talented with magic, but shutting up people was one of her talents.
When I was done eating, I retuned to my room, my footsteps not making a sound. I climbed back onto my bed, and reopened my laptop. After a few minutes, I remembered the glass. I moved to stand up and tell my mom, but then remembered that I couldn't say anything. You never knew how long the silent spell was going to last.
I sighed a silent sigh, and spent a few hours messing around online. Once I got tired, I went down the hall to take a shower. Once I finished, I fished out an oversized tank top and a pair of boxer shorts out of a drawer, put them on, turned out the lights, and fell into bed - quickly falling asleep.
beep beep beep
I opened one eye, glanced in the direction of the alarm clock, and quickly went back to sleep.
beep beep beep
I pulled the blanket over my head to help muffle the noise.
Beep Beep Beep
I pulled the pillow over my head.
Beep Beep Beep
I tried to just ignore the device and go back to sleep.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
BEEP BEEP BEEP
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
"Get up and turn that damn thing off!" came a shout from the door. Amber didn't like my alarm clock. She used some kind of time-folding spell, and as a result, she always got up at whatever time she wanted.
I begrudgingly sat up, and glared at the alarm clock. When it came into focus, I shot out of bed, and immediately started getting dressed. It was already almost 7pm. When I arrived in the kitchen, Amber eating waffles. Mom was at the waffle iron, and was finishing up with two more waffles.
She put them on a plate, and handed it to me. "Eat."
I sat down, and grabbed the syrup from where Amber sat.
